Reinstate Mr. Thomas, dedicated H.S. teacher

I don’t know what exactly happened or the particular details of the complaint against a math teacher over at the high school in East Harlem where I graduated from many moons ago (class of ‘93), but the notion that Mr. Thomas is somehow “unfit” to teach seems absurd to me at best. I remember him always being a very caring and supportive teacher both inside & oustide of the classroom. In fact, I can honestly say that even after attending graduate school I’d still rank Mr. Thomas as one of the top five influential teachers I’ve ever had in my life, and mind you I’ve been fortunate enough to have had some great instructors/tutors in my time, so that is no small feat is what I’m saying.

I was lucky to have Mr. Thomas for most of my math classes throughout H.S., including an honors class, and he always found interesting ways to keep me motivated and focused. One time, I was averaging a “B-” grade in his class and mostly due to careless errors in my end. But I knew that I knew my stuff so when it came time for the year end math level 3 state regent’s exam, I declared to Mr. Thomas that if I scored a perfect 100 he should give me an “A” for the semester. With a grin he agreed to my bold aspirations. I ended up with a score of 98, to which he sympathetically replied:

“You know, I would’ve agreed to giving you the “A” for scoring a 95+, but you were so confident you’d get a 100 that I certainly didn’t want to discourage you.”

I set myself up for that one. But in the end, it was a worthwhile effort, he knew it, and I knew it, because otherwise I probably could’ve done worse than a “B” all together without the extra motivation.

Again, I don’t know what specifially has gone down over there at MCSM recently, but the Mr. Thomas I know is top-notch at his craft and even years later I can still appreciate some of the lessons I learned in his classes. What makes him such a great teacher is that he knows how to relate the subject-matter to you in relevant ways outside of the confines of the classroom and into daily life in general. Teachers that can teach “against” their books are rare & gifted, and they should be treasured for the gems that they truly are, and if not by the students themselves then most certainly by the school’s administration.

So it’s all very sad to hear that this is happening, but clearly a large number of students and faculty, both past & present, care very much about Mr. Thomas and value his services to public education. Most telling is that we’re all willing to stand up and fight for him to help get him back working inside the classroom where he belongs. Who does this on behalf of a teacher who is supposedly “unfit” to manage a classroom full of boisterous teenagers?! No one does. Why? Because only great teachers like Mr. Thomas gets that kind of respect. And I can only hope that the powers that be over at the Board of Education will afford him the same consideration, if only for the benefit of the students themselves in which they are meant to serve the best interests of… just like Mr. Thomas has tirelessly done for the past 19 years at Manhattan Center.

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His fellow colleague Mr. Deutsch is organizing a petition to plead the case to reinstate Mr. Thomas. If you were a former student of Mr. Thomas please read it and try to help out by voicing your experiences in Mr. Thomas’s classes, good, bad, doesn’t matter. Read it here.

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